Henry marbeau



UNTTE TATEs PATENT @EETcE,

HENRY MARBEAU, AINI J, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

PROCESS OF MAKING MALLEABLE FERRO-NICKEL AND FERROCOBALT.

ESPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,901, dated January20, 1885.

Application filed March Q0, 1884. (Specimens) Patented in Frarce April24, 1883, No. 155,095, and in Belgium April 25, 1883, No. 61,224.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY MARBEAU, Ain, of the city of Paris, France,have invented new and useful Improvements in Process of Making MalleableFerro-Nickel and Ferro-Cobalt, of which the followingisafull, clear, andexact description, and for which I obtained Letters Patent in France,fifteen years, dated April 24, 1883, No. 155,098, and in Belgium,fifteen years, dated April 25, 1888, No. 61,224.

This invention relates to the manufacture of malleable ferronickcl andferro-cobalt; and it consists in the direct employment of pigs or matsof these metals, which are combined by fusion with ferro-cyanide orcyanide of potassiu1n,and with one of the oxides of manganese,(binoxide, for example) and,at the moment of running, with a smallquantity of aluminium.

The pigs or mats employed are obtained from thenatural or oxidized orescalled hydrosilicates of nickel and magnesia, containing variableproportions of iron and alumina without any trace of arsenic, which areobtained in New Caledonia and its dependencies, as well as the ores ofcobalt and chromium of the same origin, and more generally the ores ofnickel and cobalt of all countries.

To render the alloys malleable, ductile, homogeneous, and with nonoxidizing qualities proportional to the percentage of nickel or cobalt,the pigs or the mats above described are employed; or these pigs or matsmay have been previously manulactured rich or poorin nickel or cobalt,according to requirements; or they are diluted more or less by theaddition either of malleable iron or pig-iron, (or crude iron,) and Wemelt them directly with ferro-cyanide or cyanide of potassium, and oneof the oxides ofmanganese, (the binoXide,for example,) with the additionat the moment of running of a small quantity of aluminium, which,without altering the malleability of the product, gives it a compactnessand homogeneity which it would not otherwise have. These processes forthe direct malleabilization of the pigs or mats, either simple ormixed,above enumerated with the optional addition of soft or cast iron,give the alloys a special intrinsic character, a peculiar physicalcondition rendering them permanently malleable, even after a secondfusion, which allows, on the one hand, the malleableized ingots to hesent away to a distance to be worked up, and on the other hand the wastejets or defective castings to be utilized either elsewhere or on thespot. The alloys obtained by this present process are tenacious,ductile, and malleable, and adapted for casting, rolling, drawing,wire-drawing, and hammering. It should be remarked that in treating pigsor mats of nickel and of cobalt by this process the resultingferro-niekel and ferro-cobalt can be forged much more easily than thepure nickel and cobalt, which would have been malleableized in theirstead by the same means. A peculiarity of this process ofmalleableization should be observed. While soft iron ordinarily loses bythe second fusion its fibrous texture and become crystallineandbrittle,like castiron, this same soft iron preserves its malleabilityafter the second fusion,ifithad been previously mixed with a certainquantity of the malleableized products of the process of this invention,whether these products be the ferronickel or ferro-cobalt abovementioned, or pure nickels or pure cobalts malleableized by thesameprocess. The fusion of these alloys caube effected either in acrucible-furnace or an openhearth furnacesuch as the ordinaryreverberatory or Siemens furnace, as well as in a eupolaby employingappropriate fuel. If one or other of the large apparatus above mentionedbe used,the considerable wear and tear and the costliness of thecrucibles is avoided, and the alloys are produced economicallyinlargequan titles and in the easilytransportable ingot or granulated form, orcast directly in metal or sand ingot-molds. A sufficient quantity ofcarbon only for the preservation of the surfaces exposed in some casesto the action of the air carried along with the flame may be added. Themaximum proportions for a charge containing seventy per cent. of nickeland thirty per cent. of iron containing asmall amount of sulphur are thefollowing: binoXide of manganese containing 63.30, twelve parts;ferrocyanide of potassium, sixteen parts; aluminium, one-tenth of apart.It is to be understood that these proportions are varied accordingto theintended use of the alloy. If when working this process the crucible isused, the broken pig or mat is put in the crucible with the binoXide ofmanganese previously mixed with the ferro-cyanide or cyanide ofpotassium, and the whole is melted together, allow loys may be used inlock and gun making, for navy purposes, for mining, and for gold andsilver smiths work and other purposes.

I do not here desire to claim anything described in English Patent No.1,194 of 1876.

I clai1:n

The process above described of producing 20 malleable ferronickel andferro-cobalt by the direct employment of pigs or mats of these metals,these pigs or mats being combined at one and the same fusion withferro-cyanide or cyanide of potassium and one of the oxides of 25manganese, adding at the moment of casting a small quantity ofaluminium.

The foregoing specification of my improvements in the process-of makingmalleable ferro-nickel and ferro-cobalt signed by me this 30 7th day ofJanuary, 1881.

HENRY MARBEAU, AINE.

lVitn esses:

GEORGE WALKER, ALBERT MOREAU.

